Stories-For-Parents-Children-and-Grandparents-Volume-2

The bicycle race Life is a great bicycle race, whose goal is the fulfilment of one's Personal Legend. We all set off together, sharing our friendship and enthusiasm. But as the race progresses, that initial happiness fades before some very real challenges: tiredness, boredom, doubts about our own abilities. We notice that a few friends have given up - they are still cycling, but only because they cannot stop in the middle of the road; there are a lot of them, pedalling dutifully along beside the support vehicle, talking amongst themselves. We finally leave them behind, and then we come face to face with loneliness, unfamiliar bends in the road, mechanical problems with the bike. And after a while, we start to ask ourselves if it's really worth all the effort. 100

Yes, it is. It's just a question of not giving up. 101

St Augustine and logic God speaks to us through signs. It is a highly individual language which requires us to have faith and discipline if we are fully to absorb it. This is how St Augustine was converted. He had spent years searching in various philosophies for an answer to the meaning of life. One evening, in the garden of his house in Milan, he was reflecting on the utter failure of his search when he heard the sing-song voice of a child saying: 'Pick it up and read it! Pick it up and read it!' Although he had always been ruled by logic, he decided, on an impulse, to open the first book that came to hand. It was the Bible, and he read part of an epistle by St Paul, which contained all the answers he was looking for. 102

From then on, Augustine's logic made room for faith, and he became one of the Church's greatest theologians. 103

The four forces Father Alan Jones says that in order to build our soul we need the Four Invisible Forces: love, death, power and time. We must love because we are loved by God. We must have an awareness of death in order to understand life fully. We must struggle in order to grow, but without becoming entrapped by the power that is gained through that struggle, because we know that power is worthless. Finally, we must accept that our soul, although eternal, is at this moment caught in the web of time, with all its opportunities and limitations. We must therefore behave as if time existed and do everything we can to value each second. These Four Forces cannot be treated as problems to be solved because they are beyond 104

our control. We must accept them and let them teach us what we need to learn. 105

Blaming others We have all at one time or another heard our mother say of us: 'My child did this or that on some impulse, but, deep down, he's a very good person.' It is one thing to live one's life blaming ourselves for thoughtless actions that led us astray; guilt doesn't get us anywhere and it can even remove any stimulus to improve. It is quite another thing, however, to forgive ourselves for everything; that way we will never be able to set ourselves on the right path again. There is also common sense, and we should judge the results of our actions and not the intentions behind them. Deep down, everyone is good, but that's irrelevant. Jesus said: 'By their fruits ye shall know them.' 106

An old Arab proverb says: 'God judges a tree by its fruits, not by its roots.' 107

How to do what I want When he died, Juan found himself in an exquisite place, surrounded by all the comfort and beauty he had always dreamed of. A man dressed in white spoke to him: 'You can have anything you want, any food, any pleasure, any diversion,' he said. Delighted, Juan did everything he had dreamed of doing while alive. Then, after many years of pleasure, he again searched out the man in white. 'I've done everything I wanted to do. Now I need a job, so that I can feel useful,' he said. 'I'm sorry,' replied the man in white. 'But that is the one thing I can't give you; there is no work here.' 'How awful!' said Juan angrily. 'That means I'll spend all eternity bored to death! I wish I was in Hell!' 108

The man in white came over to him and said softly: 'And where exactly do you think you are, sir?' 109

The meaning of the crowns When Moses ascended into the heavens to write one particular part of the Bible, the Almighty asked him to draw little crowns above certain letters of the Torah. Moses said: 'Creator of the Universe, why do you want me to add those crowns?' 'Because in a hundred generations' time, a man named Akiva will reveal the true meaning of those drawings.' 'Show me this man's interpretation,' Moses asked. The Lord carried Moses into the future and placed him in one of Rabbi Akiva's classes. A student said: 'Rabbi, why are there crowns drawn above some of the letters?' 110

'I don't know,' replied Akiva. 'And I do not think that Moses knew either. But since he was the greatest of all the prophets, he did this merely to teach us that, even though we may not understand everything that the Lord does, we must nevertheless do as he asks.' And Moses begged the Lord's forgiveness. 111

Being the devil isn't easy The devil said to Buddha: 'Being the devil isn't easy. I always have to speak in riddles so that people won't notice that I'm tempting them. I always have to appear bright and intelligent to gain their admiration. I have to put a lot of energy into trying to persuade my disciples that Hell is more interesting than Heaven. I am old now and I would like to pass my students on to you.' Buddha knew that this was a trap: if he accepted the proposal, he himself would become the devil, and the devil would become Buddha. 'You think it's fun being Buddha,' he replied. 'But as well as doing everything that you have to do, I also have to put up with the things my students do to me! They place words in my mouth that I never spoke, they earn money 112

from my teachings and expect me to be wise all the time! You would never be able to stand such a life!' This argument convinced the devil that changing roles really wasn't such a good idea, and Buddha escaped temptation. 113

The power of the word Of all the powerful weapons of destruction that man has invented, the most terrible - and the most cowardly - is the word. Knives and firearms leave traces of blood. Bombs shake whole buildings and streets. Poisons can always be detected. But a destructive word can provoke Evil without leaving behind it a single clue. Children are subject to years of conditioning by their parents, artists are mercilessly pilloried, women are systematically undermined by remarks made by their husbands, the faithful are kept apart from religion by those who judge themselves capable of interpreting the voice of God. Check to see if you yourself are using this weapon. Check to see if someone is using this weapon on you. And put a stop to both. 114

Apollo and Daphne The god Apollo pursues the nymph Daphne into the woods. He is in love with her, but Daphne - who is always being courted by everyone - can no longer bear her own splendour and calls on the gods to help her, saying: 'Destroy this beauty that never allows me any peace.' The gods hear Daphne's plea and transform her into a tree. Apollo cannot find her, for she is now merely part of the vegetation. Daphne behaved in a way that is familiar to us all: we often destroy our own talents because we do not know what to do with them. The mediocrity of being 'just another person' is more comfortable than the struggle to 115

reveal everything we are capable of, using the gifts that God gave us. 116

No two paths are the same In one of his rare writings, the Sufi sage Hafik says of the spiritual search: 'Accept with wisdom the fact that the Path is full of contradictions. The Path often hides itself in order to stimulate the traveller to discover what lies beyond the next bend. If two travelling companions are following the same path, then one of them is clearly following a false trail. For there are no formulae for finding the truth of the Path, and each person needs to run the risks incurred by his own steps. Only the ignorant try to imitate the behaviour of others. Intelligent men do not waste their time like that; they develop their own abilities; they know that in a forest of a 117

hundred thousand trees, no two leaves are the same, just as no two journeys along the same Path are the same.' 118

Miss Cockroach and the coin An old children's story tells of Miss Cockroach, who found a coin as she was sweeping out her house. After a long time spent at her window, choosing the right mate to accommodate all her fears and anxieties, she ended up marrying John Shrew. And as everyone knows, John Shrew fell in the stew. Often in our lives, we find a coin that has been given to us by fate, and we believe it to be the one treasure of our lives. We end up placing so much value on that one thing that fate - the same fate that gave us the coin - decides to take it back. Those who are afraid of making a choice, always choose wrongly. 119

Copying the teacher A disciple who loved and admired his teacher decided to observe his behaviour minutely, believing that if he did everything that his teacher did, then he would also acquire his teacher's wisdom. The teacher always wore white, and so his disciple did the same. The teacher was a vegetarian, and so his disciple stopped eating meat and replaced it with a diet of vegetables and herbs. The teacher was an austere man, and so the disciple decided to devote himself to self- sacrifice and started sleeping on a straw mattress. After some time, the teacher noticed these changes in his disciple's behaviour and asked him why. 120

'I am climbing the steps of initiation,' came the reply. 'The white of my clothes shows the simplicity of my search, the vegetarian food purifies my body, and the lack of comfort makes me think only of spiritual things.' Smiling, the teacher took him to a field where a horse was grazing. 'You have spent all this time looking outside yourself, which is what matters least,' he said. 'Do you see that creature there? He has white skin, eats only grass and sleeps in a stable on a straw bed. Do you think he has the face of a saint or will one day become a real teacher?'. 121

Why God left man until the sixth day A group of wise men met together in a castle in Akbar to discuss God's works; they wanted to know why he had left creating man until the sixth day. 'He wanted to get the Universe sorted out first so that we could have all its marvels at our disposal,' said one. 'He wanted to experiment with animals first so that he wouldn't make the same mistakes when he created us,' argued another. A wise Jew turned up at the meeting. He was told the subject of discussion: 'In your opinion why did God create man only on the final day?' 'Very simple,' said the wise man. 'So that whenever we were afflicted by pride, we could 122

reflect that, in the Divine scheme, even a mere mosquito had priority over us.' 123

The exorcism A man called in a priest to perform an exorcism in his house. He then went to stay in a hotel and left the priest to his work. The priest spent a few days sleeping in the haunted house. He sprinkled holy water in all the rooms, said prayers, and, when he judged his task to be done, he summoned the owner, saying that the results had been fantastic. 'How many demons did you exorcise?' the owner asked. 'None.' 'And how many did you see in my house?' 'None.' 'Then how can you say that the results were fantastic?' 'When one is fighting the forces of evil, then none is more than enough.' 124

Charity under threat Some time ago, my wife went to the aid of a Swiss tourist in Ipanema, who claimed that he had been robbed by some street children. Speaking appalling Portuguese in a thick foreign accent, he said that he had been left without his passport, without any money and with nowhere to sleep. My wife bought him lunch, gave him enough cash to pay for a hotel room for the night while he got in touch with his embassy, and then left. Days later, a Rio newspaper reported that this 'Swiss tourist' was, in fact, an inventive con-artist who put on an accent and abused the good faith of those of us who love Rio and want to undo the negative image - justified or not - which has become our postcard. 125

When she read the article, my wife simply said: 'Well, that's not going to stop me helping anyone.' Her remark reminded me of the story of a wise man who moved to the city of Akbar. No one took much notice of him, and his teachings were not taken up by the populace. After a time, he became the object of their mockery and their ironic comments. One day, while he was walking down the main street in Akbar, a group of men and women began insulting him. Instead of pretending that he had not noticed, the wise man turned to them and blessed them. One of the men said: 'Are you deaf too? We called you the foulest of names and yet you respond with sweet words!' 'We can each of us only offer what we have,' came the wise man's reply. 126

Negative desires A disciple said to his teacher: 'I have spent a large part of my day thinking things I should not think, desiring things I should not desire, and making plans I should not make.' The teacher invited his disciple to go for a walk with him in a forest near his house. On the way, he pointed to a plant and asked if the disciple knew what it was. 'It's deadly nightshade,' said the disciple. 'The leaves can kill you if you eat them.' 'But they cannot kill you if you merely look at them. In exactly the same way, negative desires are entirely harmless unless you give in to them.' 127

Does the teacher suffer if he has bad disciples? A disciple said to Firoz: 'The mere presence of a teacher inevitably attracts all kinds of inquisitive people, eager to discover something to their own advantage. Could that prove prejudicial to the teacher or a negative influence? Could that not turn the teacher from his path or cause him to suffer because he failed to teach what he intended to teach?' Firoz, the Sufi master, replied: 'The sight of a pineapple tree laden with fruit awakens the appetite of everyone who passes by. If someone chooses to eat more than his fill, he will end up consuming too many pineapples and will suffer the consequences. The owner of the tree doesn't get indigestion 128

though. It is the same thing with the Search. The path must be open to all, but God determines what limits to place on each individual.' 129

Beyond one's own limits An archer was out walking near a Hindu monastery known for the austerity of its teachings when he saw the monks in the garden, drinking and having fun. 'How cynical you seekers after God's path are,' he said out loud. 'You claim to place great importance on discipline and then get drunk on the quiet.' 'If you were to shoot a hundred arrows one after the other, what would happen to your bow?' asked the oldest of the monks. 'My bow would break,' replied the archer. 'If someone forces himself to go beyond his own limits, then he will break his will,' said the monk. 'If you do not balance work with rest, you will lose your enthusiasm, drain yourself of energy and not achieve very much at all.' 130

There's still something missing The yogi Paltrul Rinpoche heard about a hermit who was reputed to be a saint and who lived in the mountains. He went to meet him. 'Where have you come from?' asked the hermit. 'I come from where my back is pointing and I am going towards where my face is turned,' replied Rinpoche. 'A wise man should know that.' 'What a foolish, pseudo-philosophical answer,' muttered the hermit. 'And what do you do, sir?' 'I have been meditating for the last twenty years on perfecting patience. I am close to being considered a saint.' 131

'People already think you are a saint,' remarked Rinpoche. 'You've managed to deceive them all!' The hermit leaped angrily to his feet. 'How dare you come here bothering a man in search of sainthood?' he cried. 'You've got a long way to go yet,' said Rinpoche. 'If a silly joke can make you lose the patience for which you've been searching for so long, then the last twenty years have been a complete waste of time!' 132

An Arab creation myth In The Book of the Ghost, Alejandro Dolina links the history of sand with one of the creation myths of the Arab people. According to this myth, as soon as the world had been made, one of the angels pointed out to the Almighty that he had forgotten to put any sand on Earth, a grave omission, given that human beings would be deprived for ever of being able to walk along the seashore, massaging their weary feet and being in direct contact with the ground. Worse, river beds would always be rough and rocky, architects would be unable to make use of this indispensable material, and the footprints of lovers would be invisible. Eager to remedy this oversight, God despatched the Archangel Gabriel with a huge bag of sand so that he could spread it wherever it was needed. 133

Gabriel created the beaches and the riverbeds, then made his way back to Heaven, carrying with him the surplus sand, but the Enemy - always watchful, always keen to spoil the Almighty's work - made a hole in the bag, which burst, spilling all its contents. This happened in a place now known as Arabia, and nearly the whole region was transformed into a vast desert. Distraught, Gabriel went to ask the Lord's forgiveness for having allowed the Enemy to creep up on him unawares. And God, in His infinite wisdom, decided to recompense the Arab people for his messenger's unwitting mistake. He created for them a heaven full of stars, such as exists nowhere else in the world, so that they would always be gazing skywards. He created the turban which, beneath the desert sun, is of far more value than a crown. He created the tent, so that people could move from place to place and thus always have new landscapes around them, without any of 134

the irritating duties involved in the upkeep of a palace. He taught the people to forge the best steel for swords. He created the camel. He developed the finest breed of horses. And he gave them something more precious than all these things together, he gave them the word, the true gold of the Arabs. While other peoples were shaping metals and gemstones, the Arab people were learning to shape the word. There the poet became priest, judge, doctor and chief of the Bedouin. His verses have the power to provoke joy, sadness, yearning. They can unleash vengeance and war, bring together lovers or reproduce the songs of the birds. And Alejandro Dolina concludes: 'God's mistakes, like those of great artists or of true lovers, unleash so many happy compensations that sometimes it is almost worth wishing they would happen.' 135

The game of chess A young man said to the abbot of a monastery: 'I would really like to become a monk, but I have learned nothing of importance in my life. My father only taught me how to play chess, and that does not lead to enlightenment. And besides, I was told that all games are sinful.' 'They can be sinful, but they can also be a diversion, and perhaps this monastery needs a little of both,' came the reply. The abbot called for a chessboard and summoned a monk to play with the young man. However, before the game began, he added: 'We may need diversion, but we cannot have everyone playing chess all the time. We will have only the best players here. If our monk loses, he will leave the monastery, thus creating an opening for you.' 136

The abbot was deadly serious. The young man played an aggressive game, but then he noticed the saintly look in the monk's eyes, and from then on, he began to play deliberately badly. He decided that he would rather lose because he felt that the monk could prove far more useful to the world than him. Suddenly, the abbot overturned the chessboard onto the floor. 'You learned far more than you were taught,' he said. 'You have the powers of concentration necessary to win and you are capable of fighting for what you want, but you also have compassion and the ability to sacrifice yourself for a noble cause. You have shown yourself capable of balancing discipline and mercy; welcome to our monastery!' 137

Isaac dies A certain rabbi was adored by everyone in his community, who were all enchanted with everything he said. Apart from Isaac, that is, who never missed an opportunity to contradict the rabbi's interpretations and point out errors in his teaching. The others were disgusted by Isaac's behaviour, but could do nothing about it. One day, Isaac died. During the funeral, the community noticed that the rabbi was looking very sad. 'Why so sad?' asked someone. 'He found fault with everything you did!' 'I'm not sad for my friend, who is now in heaven,' replied the rabbi. 'I am sad for myself. While you all revered me, he challenged me, and so I was forced to improve. Now that he's gone, I'm afraid I might stop growing.' 138

The price of the question A rabbi spent his whole life teaching that all the answers to our questions are in ourselves, but his congregation insisted on consulting him about everything they did. One day, the rabbi had an idea. He placed a notice on the door of his house, saying: 'ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - 100 MOEDAS PER ANSWER.' A shopkeeper decided to pay the one hundred moedas. He gave the rabbi the money and said: 'Don't you think that's rather a lot to charge for a question?' 'Yes, I do,' said the rabbi. 'And I have just answered your question. If you want to know anything else, you'll have to pay another one hundred moedas, or else look for the answer 139

inside yourself, which is far cheaper and much more efficient.' From then on, no one bothered him. 140

Forgiving in the same spirit Rabbi Nahum of Chernobyl was the object of constant insults from a shopkeeper. One day, the man's business began to go downhill. 'It must be the rabbi, asking for vengeance from God,' he thought. And he went to apologise to the rabbi. 'I forgive you in the same spirit in which you forgive me,' replied the rabbi. Yet the man continued to lose money hand over fist until, finally, he was reduced to abject poverty. Nahum's disciples were horrified and went to ask the rabbi what had happened. 'I forgave him, but deep down in his heart, he still hated me,' said the rabbi. 'His hatred contaminated everything he did, and so God's punishment proved even more severe.' 141

A traditional Sufi story Many years ago, in a poor Chinese village, there lived a farmer and his son. His only material possession, apart from the land and a small hut, was a horse he had inherited from his father. One day, the horse ran away, leaving the man with no animal with which to work the land. His neighbours, who respected him for his honesty and diligence, went to his house to say how much they regretted his loss. He thanked them for their visit, but asked: 'How do you know that what happened was a misfortune in my life?' Someone muttered to a friend: 'He obviously doesn't want to face facts, but let him think what he likes, after all, it's better than being sad about it.' 142

And the neighbours went away again, pretending to agree with what he had said. A week later, the horse returned to its stable, but it was not alone; it brought with it a beautiful mare for company. The inhabitants of the village were thrilled when they heard the news, for only then did they understand the reply the man had given them, and they went back to the farmer's house to congratulate him on his good fortune. 'Instead of one horse, you've got two. Congratulations!' they said. 'Many thanks for your visit and for your solidarity,' replied the farmer. 'But how do you know that what happened was a blessing in my life?' The neighbours were rather put out and decided that the man must be going mad, and, as they left, they said: 'Doesn't the man realise that the horse is a gift from God?' A month later, the farmer's son decided to break the mare in. However, the animal bucked 143

wildly and threw the boy off; the boy fell awkwardly and broke his leg. The neighbours returned to the farmer's house, bringing presents for the injured boy. The mayor of the village solemnly presented his condolences to the father, saying how sad they all were about what had occurred. The man thanked them for their visit and for their kindness, but he asked: 'How do you know that what happened was a misfortune in my life?' These words left everyone dumbstruck, because they were all quite sure that the son's accident was a real tragedy. As they left the farmer's house, they said to each other: 'Now he really has gone mad; his only son could be left permanently crippled, and he's not sure whether the accident was a misfortune or not!' A few months went by, and Japan declared war on China. The emperor's emissaries scoured the country for healthy young men to be sent to the front. When they reached the village, they 144

recruited all the young men, except the farmer's son, whose leg had not yet mended. None of the young men came back alive. The son recovered, and the two horses produced foals that were all sold for a good price. The farmer went to visit his neighbours to console and to help them, since they had always shown him such solidarity. Whenever any of them complained, the farmer would say: 'How do you know that what happened was a misfortune?' If someone was overjoyed about something, he would ask: 'How do you know that what happened was a blessing?' And the people of the village came to understand that life has other meanings that go beyond mere appearance. 145

Trees and towns In the Mojave desert, one often comes across those famous ghost towns that were built around the gold mines. They were abandoned when all the gold had been mined out. They had served their purpose and there was no reason for anyone to go on living there. When we walk through a forest, we see trees which, once they have served their purpose, have fallen. However, unlike ghost towns, their fall has opened up space for light to penetrate, they have enriched the soil and their trunks are covered in new vegetation. Our old age will depend on the way we have lived. We can either end up like a ghost town or like a generous tree, which continues to be important even after its fall. 146

On rhythm and the road 'There was something you didn't mention in your talk about the Road to Santiago,' said a pilgrim as we were leaving the Casa de Galicia, in Madrid, where I had given a lecture only minutes before. I'm sure there were many things I didn't mention, since my intention had been merely to share something of my own experience. Nevertheless, I invited her for a cup of coffee, intrigued to know what this important omission was. And Begoña - for that is her name - said: 'I've noticed that most pilgrims, whether on the Road to Santiago or on any of life's paths, always try to follow the rhythm set by others. At the start of my pilgrimage, I tried to keep up with my group, but I got tired. I was demanding too much of my body. I was tense 147

all the time and I ended up straining the tendons in my left foot. I couldn't walk for two days, and I realised that I would only reach Santiago if I obeyed my own rhythm. I took longer than the others to get there, and for long stretches I often had to walk alone, but it was only by respecting my own rhythm that I managed to complete the journey. Ever since then, I have applied this to everything I do in life: I follow my own rhythm.' 148

Everything will come to dust The fiestas in the Spanish city of Valencia involve a curious ritual, which has its origins in the ancient community of carpenters there. During the year, artisans and artists make gigantic wooden sculptures. In the week of the fiesta, these sculptures are placed in the middle of the main square. People look, pass comment, and feel amazed and moved at such creativity. Then on St Joseph's day, all these works of art - apart from one - are burned on a huge bonfire, before thousands of onlookers. 'All that work for nothing!' said an Englishwoman at my side, while the vast flames rose up to the skies. 'You too will come to an end one day,' replied a Spanish woman. 'Just imagine if an 149